Today we learned about a mother who is definitely not a narc. And we learned about a mother who…
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"I don't want kids. I'd love to adopt someday and I have a lot of adoption in my family... I know that I have this depression and that it's in my family. Every family has their stuff but, for me, I just don't feel strong enough to see that in a child."

A study from the Handbook of Medical Psychiatry circa September 2011 indeed links major depression and genetics; first-degree relatives (parents, siblings children) are two to three times more likely to have it, although the specific genes have not yet been identified. Another, out of Stanford Medical School, asserts that unless the adopted child's biological parent had depression, being raised by someone who did wouldn't see them "catching it," which may be intuitive but is good to know nevertheless.

This is the part where I would praise or criticize Silverman's choice if I didn't feel too close to it to do so; one of my parents is schizophrenic and mental disorders are more common than cancer in my family. This, as well as my own moderate depression (at best, neutral; at worst, a big sucking black hole of inability to act and general doomed-ness that I am sure other depressed readers are familiar with), has made me seriously consider whether it was my responsibility not to have children. On the other hand, the final stop on this train of thought is the intersection of Eugenics Street and Gattaca Boulevard, so like... problems?

Silverman then goes on:

We live in Los Angeles, where everybody is like, "Don't get your dog from a breeder, get your dog from a shelter..." and I agree, but don't get your people from a breeder. There are human puppies in shelters and it's odd that that never seems to be a connection that people make. If you're not OK with yourself, it's easier to love a dog than a person in need because you don't see all the things you hate about yourself reflected back in the eyes of a dog. If Africa was full of springer spaniels dying of AIDS and starvation we'd probably take care of it in a day.